An Ocean County jury convicted three alleged gang members today of killing a Lakewood man in a brazen mid-afternoon shooting at a local barbershop.

Tim McCarthy/Asbury Park PressTyleek Baker (far left) snapped gum as he listened to the verdict. (l-r) his attorney Paul Bergrin, Jamal Scott his lawyer George Somers and James Russell.

The men, on trial since Oct. 14, were found guilty of murder and conspiracy by a jury that deliberated 12 hours over two days amid tight security in a case tainted by allegations of witness retaliation and the murder of a relative of a witness' girlfriend.

The verdict rejected defense attorneys' claims that police arrested the wrong men in their haste to find the killer of Jose Francisco Olivares on Feb. 7, 2006.

The jury of seven women and five men sorted through conflicting testimony about whether Tyleek Baker, 28, of Manchester opened fire on Olivares in the crowded Man, Woman and Child Barbershop in Lakewood while accomplices James Russell and Jamell Scott watched.

Scott, 22, and Russell, 24, both from Lakewood, were charged with murder and conspiracy. Besides being convicted on those charges, Baker was also found guilty of weapons offenses. Daniel Thomas, 21, of Lakewood, a fourth suspect in the killing, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and was required to testify for the prosecution.

Thomas told jurors that Baker shot Olivares after Baker had an argument with another barbershop patron. And several other prosecution witnesses, including other customers, identified Baker as the shooter.

But other patrons called by the defense said they did not see Baker in the shop at the time of the shooting. Defense attorneys also tried to show the prosecution witnesses did not have a good vantage point in the barbershop to see the shooter.

"We're just pleased that justice was done," she said outside the courtroom. "We feel the jury obviously reached an appropriate verdict."

Defense attorneys vowed to appeal.

"I'm just very surprised," said George Somers, who represented Scott. "Given all the inconsistencies (of witness testimony) I just can't understand it. It's thoroughly not understandable.

Prosecutors were prohibited from mentioning anything about the trio's alleged membership in the Bloods street gang during the trial. As he was led away in handcuffs, Russell flashed the Bloods hand signal to a video camera.

More than a dozen plain-clothed law enforcement officers and uniformed sheriff's officers were stationed outside the courthouse and the courtroom of Superior Court Judge Wendel Daniels in Toms River during deliberations. After the verdict, sheriffs officers donned their bullet-proof vests and stood guard at the courthouse entrance with a canine and an automatic rifle. A sharpshooter wearing camouflage stood in position on the roof of the adjacent courthouse.

MaryAnn Spoto/The Star-LedgerA sharpshooter is perched on the roof of the Ocean County Courthouse after the murder conviction of three alleged Bloods gang members

Security has been tight throughout the trial, which started under strained circumstances when the mother of the girlfriend of a prosecution witness was shot to death in her Lakewood apartment on Oct. 14, just hours before opening arguments. Investigators have not made an arrest in the case and refused to link it definitively to the trial.

Before jury selection began in September, Thomas' home was sprayed by gunfire. Prosecutors at that time said they were worried about retaliation against witnesses.

Scott, the only defendant to testify, told jurors he was in Freehold with Thomas when the shooting occurred.